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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23292166">Sins of the Fathers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyRachael/pseuds/LadyRachael'>LadyRachael</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Angst, Gen, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, One Shot, Severus Snape Has a Heart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:20:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23292166</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyRachael/pseuds/LadyRachael</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Snape rescues Harry,  readjusts his worldview, and tells off Dumbledore.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sins of the Fathers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Snape gently placed a pair of cracked glasses on the desk. They had been taped together repeatedly and the faded remnants of a reparo charm yet lingered. The thick frames had survived heavy abuse, but there was too much missing now to ever be quite whole again, and weren't the parallels upsetting? </p><p>"Is Harry going to live, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, genial twinkle absent from his eyes.</p><p>"Not. Your. Boy. But yes, he still lives, through no grace of yours. Too far and nearly too late, and you made me an instrument of his torment! Petunia! You left a magical child, Lily's child, with that bitter, narrow minded girl who only grew worse with age! He lies now in a healing coma in hope that he'll have something left to live for when he wakes, and that is a thin and brittle hope. That brutal monster of a muggle uncle systematically broke every bone in his hands, he may never hold a wand again!" Severus bit out, past his rage and guilt trying to choke him.</p><p>"Poppy can give him skelegrow, she's regrown whole bones before." Dumbledore began, before being cut off.</p><p>"Skelegrow needs something to work from and magic to feed it, at this point it's hard pressed just to keep him alive." Snape sat on one of the hard backed chairs against the office wall, head in his hands. "Why, Headmaster? Why tell me he was loved, spoiled, doted on when the truth was so different? I summoned his belongings and they came from a cupboard with locks on the outside and a bloodied mattress within. He lived in a cupboard! He bled there, starved there, nearly died there, and I showed up expecting a child throwing a tantrum for not getting his way! Did you know I hesitated before going in? I heard screaming and yelling and thought I could wait out the hysterics, but then the begging started. I know what it sounds like when someone is being beaten half to death, and only my arrival kept it from happening. I wasn't  home when my mother... died, but now I have a fair idea what it sounded like. Gods, I hated Potter, but I wouldn't have wished this on even Black at his nastiest. At least the bobbies have them now, maybe their miniature whale of a son will have better luck in care."</p><p>"You had the Dursleys arrested? Severus, the boy must return to the blood wards once he is healed! Yes, a confundus at the station and I'll have a talk with them about how the wards can only keep them safe if Harry is there and well. Not to worry, my boy, I can fix this." Dumbledore muttered absently while making plans to salvage what he could.  He didn't see Snape raise his head or the growing rage in his eyes. He did, however,  feel his arm grabbed as he prepared to apparate. </p><p>"Are you out of your fecking mind? You want to spring them from lockup, give them a stern look and a harsh talking to? Blood wards, hey? What bloody good are they if the boy is dead?!" This last was delivered at top volume from a few inches from Dumbledore's face. "Do you not believe that child abuse is a problem? That all families are loving and it'll all work out if we're nice to each other, hmm?" The abrupt change from yelling to nearly whispering kept Dumbledore silent for a moment as Snape continued.  "Hey, did you ever wonder how a person goes Dark? 'Cause this is how. You take a child and you systematically abuse them, put them in constant fear of their life, isolate them, and eventually they either die or they take back their life and punish everyone who resembles those who hurt them. Your weapon is broken now, Headmaster. If the Dark Lord returns, and what shriveled fragments of faith I have hope not, Harry Potter will not be facing him. Your Prophecy Child is dead and only his husk remains." </p><p>Snape swept out, slamming the door behind him.  As he passed Minerva, he motioned for her to stop. Visibly biting his tongue he extracted the memory of his meeting with Dumbledore and his rescue of Harry. "Watch that and meet me in the hospital wing."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This could be the beginning of a Snape mentors Harry fic, but this is all I have. Have fun imagining the Scottish fury about to decend on Dumbledore. Does her animagus form give her actual claws?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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